Duke’s Oldest Research Center Turns a New Leaf

As she settles into her role as director of Duke’s Center for Health Policy & Inequalities Research (CHPIR), Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, Ph.D., has been reflecting on the difference between trees and forests. 

“Trees don’t thrive in isolation. Their roots touch, and they share needed nutrients with other trees,” says Proeschold-Bell, a research professor of global health who has been part of CHPIR since 2003.  “That’s what we offer to each other as a community in CHPIR. We exchange ideas and offer each other the skills and knowledge that no single one of us has in isolation. Over the years, we have grown a forest of trees that are stronger together.”

Proeschold-Bell became CHPIR’s director on July 1, succeeding Kathryn Whetten, Ph.D., who is returning to teaching and research after leading the Center for the past 21 years. Founded in 1981 as the Center for Health Policy Research and Education, the interdisciplinary unit is among the oldest research centers at Duke, hosting a wide range of programs addressing health inequities for vulnerable communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Over the past four decades, CHPIR has produced research that has influenced country-level and local policies around HIV prevention, sexual and gender minority health, and the care of orphaned and separated children. Around half of its programs are focused on communities in and around North Carolina, including a project to reduce teen pregnancy rates in Craven County and the Clergy Health Initiative, an effort led by Proeschold-Bell to address the mental and physical strains of religious leaders in the state. 

“As a group, we are looking to bring data and evidence to improve the wellbeing of people who are facing unique challenges and starting with fewer resources,” says Proeschold-Bell, a psychologist whose research focuses on interventions that promote positive mental health among clergy and other community-focused professionals. “Our emphasis on health inequities and partnering with marginalized communities won’t change.”

What may change are the boundaries of CHPIR’s forest. In recent years, several of the Center’s researchers have had notable successes identifying and implementing strategies to reduce symptoms of stress for individuals and build structures that promote resilience in communities.  Proeschold-Bell sees opportunities to leverage those unique strengths by collaborating with researchers across Duke who are interested in applying multisystemic, context-informed resilience strategies to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of vulnerable populations. 

“I think it’s time for colleagues at Duke to know who we are, and that we want to foster more partnerships within Duke—to expand our supportive forest at a time when interdisciplinary ideas and connections are especially beneficial,” she says. 

Under Whetten’s leadership, CHPIR grew significantly in size and scope, now comprising more than 30 faculty and staff, 40 international collaborators and around $20 million in external research funding. Whetten, who will remain involved with the Center as a researcher, says Proeschold-Bell is the ideal person to build on the Center’s four-decade legacy of impact. 

“Rae Jean is going to do a great job of reenvisioning CHPIR,” Whetten says. “She has vision, leadership, and the ability to work across funders and donors. She knows the university system, and she has deep respect for everyone in the Center.”

“CHPIR is an incredibly strong, supportive community, and that has everything to do with the culture Kate created and nurtured,” says Proeschold-Bell. “It will be exciting to share the expertise of this group with a wider community.”

CHPIR Reception Oct. 28

CHPIR is hosting a reception on Tuesday, Oct. 28, from 4-5 p.m. in 124 Trent Hall, with remarks at 4:15, to mark its more than four decades of accomplishments and share the Center’s current and future directions. Proeschold-Bell encourages anyone interested in CHPIR’s work or collaborating on future projects to come meet the staff and learn more about its activities and the science of resilience.